Here were the bad parts against TT
 

I got NUTHEN. :banana:

That second half was show time!!

Go Flyers!! Kostas, Trey, Jordan D, Josh, DD, Crutch,

Yes, good overall performance. At the risk of being a wet blanket, here are a couple:

1. Would like them to get off to a better start. Seems the last couple of games we started in a hole and today would have been worse if TT was any good at all.

2. Josh and fouls.

If pressed, that is what I have.

Svoboda needs a break out game...

Thought Kostas was outstanding in every phase. He opened it up for others. Great awareness tonight.

Great to see Kostas do a little of everything tonight. I love the way he drove to the hoop and was able to dish it off - 3 great assists. He and Crutcher are a great alleyoop combo. Still very sloppy play, but some exciting ball mixed in.
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Any time John Crosby dribbles or passes the ball---looks like a turnover waiting to happen

17 turnovers. I guess maybe it's a win since it's < 20? Some of them were just bad. Also, our half court offense continues to be offensive at times. I think I saw 3 guys at one point 10 foot beyond the 3 pt line with the ball near mid-court. We had about 7 seconds on the clock.

The last two possessions of the first half were no bueno.

We didn't rebound particularly well at the beginning of the game.

But, we won and there were a lot of bright spots. And as Nate Green said afterwards, you can learn plenty during a win and I think they will.

Officiating.

I'm not complaining, but I don't think the zebras had their best night.

The key thing was he avoided fouls and didn't try to force anything. He played a nice game. Seeing that block of his was awesome.

As usual udscott is nowhere to he found after a win.

I’ll mention 1 obvious negative. Midway through the 2nd Half, we were only up 7, and TT had the ball with a chance to cut it to 5, or even 4 with a trey. That was the case on at least 2, and maybe 3, possessions. But the defense held, the offense worked well enough to get the lead back into double digits, and the guys kept “pedal to the metal” enough to win without too many ulcers.

On the positive side, to the degree AG’s offense actually works, I love watching these guys share the ball. Some of the passing was really good, especially when you consider that these guys are still learning not only the system, but their teammates’ strengths and weaknesses as well. I know Tennessee Tech ain’t Kansas, but it was still a beautiful sight to see.
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Jordan Davis is so.......

smoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooth

Not seeing a pony with a hat either.

He's been sending me nasty PM's. He's lurking..

Still too many offensive possessions of 20 seconds being stagnant followed by 10 seconds of panic.

Slow start...no post touches in the first 5 minutes. They start working the post at the start of the game like they do at the start of the first half and the slow starts end.

As mentioned elsewhere...nice ball movement and defensive pressure. They win when they do those things well. You mix that with getting your best players involved (the post) and there will be fewer bad nights.

A few times early in the game the low post was actually set up but the perimeter player simply missed the opportunity for the dump down pass. That low post doesn't stay open very long so the passer has to be more decisive..Would like to see both BIGS get that pass a couple times for a little jump hook.

I noticed something last night I hadn't fully realized. Coach Grant was motioning to the team on offense as to where to get set up. I think I remember this early in Archie's career here as well, and it took him a while before he let the team do their job. I'm not sure if that means that the offense they are learning in practice is not completing settling into the player's heads, or it's to confusing, or if it is something else. Anyone else notice that?

Exactly...the perimeter players are so worried about speed in the offense that they don't feed the post or use screens. I said this last week, the entire offense flows like a wide receiver trying to head towards the end zone before he catches the ball.

Out bigs established position all night long and the feed isn't there. It needs to happen quick before the defender can front and the backside shows up We are already reversing the ball when the post is WIDE open. Doesn't make sense. Feed the man.

It seems that AG's first desire in the offense is speed...which translates to quick reversals for perimeter shots...then the P&R...then the back cut...and the post comes in at about 6th place on the list of importance.

I think Kostas can improve our defense immensely, in the 1-3-1 zone we ran most of the night... if he would just keeps his hands up.

I noticed he plays defense with his hands down at his waist, and has to wind up each time he goes for a block.

If he were to keep his hands up at least at his shoulders, I'm guessing he would easily break Big Steve's block record.

I'm thinking Grant should do what Martin Lawrence did in the movie "Rebound" - and put icy hot under Kostas arm pits before a game.

One of my brothers had a high school coach who was a character. Funny guy. He would threaten to pull down the shorts of any guy who didn't keep his hands up on defense. Would go on and on about the only reason you needed your hands down at your sides was to pull your shorts down. And a couple times he apparently made good on the threat. Of course today that would be politically in-correct on so many levels. Too bad because that team went undefeated and played awesome defense.

Though I think you'll agree that just because the big has position you don't have to pass it to him. It's but one option. Maybe AG is yelling for ball reversal.

The bigs need to get it some but there's value to the offense in just having the position, regardless if you throw it every time. The great thing about the AM offense was that the ball would go into the post for passing angles not just shooting the ball.

I didn't get to watch the whole game last night - I caught the first 4 minutes which were really hard to watch.

Then I watched the last 16 minutes and it looked like a different team. The slow starts are going to kill us against better teams. The turnovers will also kill us against better teams.

I still believe X can be our best player down the stretch. If he gets back even close to 40% from deep - he will be huge for us. Our offense is different with him in the game. Our last 4 games - the turnovers have been a huge problem. The offense needs more X.

If this team wants to start getting off to better starts which is what is needed and especially against a legit team then they better start finding the BIGS both early and often. This creates the ability to get easier looks, get opponents BIGS in some foul trouble, kick it back out, rotate the ball, swing it, have more wide-open looks, and more importantly get the defenders back on their heels some.

Right now UD is NOT strong with the ball out on the perimeter (DD has never been strong with the ball, Crosby a TO machine, and Crutcher just learning the ropes) as evident by all the TO's and especially the three in a row to close out the half against TT. If they want the defense to quit cheating and anticipating the passing lanes the BIGS need touches..

I get that...but the reversals are setting up lower percentage 3's than high percentage post feeds on the back side.

I am a firm believer that the inside game opens up the outside game and not the other way around. Post game gets you fouls, free throws, and forces the opponent to collapse in the paint or hit the backside hard. In that case, the highest percentage 3 (inside out) will be there as well.

Defenses can pack the lane all day and give you open 3's. They open 3's are never a guarantee. But you hit the post with some effectiveness...the 3 ball is still there on kick outs and reversals. Not the other way around.

I am with you in the sense that is what AG wants...but on the flip side...after the under 16 we got posts feeds and we get post feeds to start the 2nd half almost every game...so my takeaway from that is he is telling them to get it inside because it ends up working.

Two things regarding good fouls...

If you aren't fouling in D you aren't playing hard enough. If you aren't drawing fouls on O you aren't attacking enough. We tell our young kids this all the time. When you end a game with 6 team fouls and lose, you aren't playing aggressive enough. Same can be said for UD on offense...they need to get the opponent in foul trouble and you aren't going to do that on the wing.

That's "Quick Draw McGraw" to you hombre.

Can't comment on a game I could only watch part of the first half on a stream that kept stopping. Then had other commitments last night. However, if you're saying I only show up when they lose, you're nuts.

So, here's my comments on what I saw. Crosby looked pretty good(keeping in mind I only saw about the first 13 minutes). Baby D looked great taking ball to hoop. Crutcher looked like he was having shoe problems early and then hobbled off, then came back and looked great, especially that alley oop to Kostas. Glad to see Cunningham make two out of the two free throws he shot.

Gotta give AG credit, playing the zone right off the bat to keep our bigs out of foul trouble is something AM would never do.

FLYER5 is not only a mentally ill troll but a cowardly one too.

Sorry, that's all I got for ya Jeffy. Sometimes a Flyers game doesn't line up with my schedule.

UD Grew As a Team Last Night
 

I was really happy to see the Flyers begin to turn a corner last night by answering the question all teams are asking themselves this time of year. The question is "Who are We?"
KA and JC had double doubles. When did that last happen to a Dayton Flyer team? My guess is
Waleskowski and Finn under Purnell. Crutcher had assists as did DD and Trey. Some oil is being applied to the offense. This Flyer team has a dominating inside game at both ends of the court
especially when X returns. It is up to the perimeter players to understand, accept and play accordingly. The number ONE job of the Dayton guards is to get touches for the talented Bigs
before a three point shot is launched. Both JC and KA are highly skilled at returning the ball to the perimeter when covered for an open three. This is far more desired than a perimeter player
taking a guarded three. If this Dayton team can become an inside first offense they will set themselves apart from their rivals in the A-10 who can dominate the perimeter. Bring on the zone defense with our Bigs being foul prone and let the Dayton guards pass, fast break and take appropriate treys within the scheme. This Dayton roster cries for the Bigs to be fed.
I'd like to see JC and KA and XW when he returns adopt Zeke Elliot's "Feed Me" gesture.

I am a little concerned about how the team handled the press when TT really started applying the pressure. My fear is that other teams will see that and be able to take better advantage of a young team prone to turnovers. That said, they did seem to get more aggressive and looked to score rather than just beat the press and it worked.

Dayton's Guards Major Weakness
 

is their dribbling. They will be vulnerable to the press and MUST learn to pass the ball quickly
and strongly against zone pressure. The best dribblers on the Flyer team are walk-ons.

Totally agree. But I think our guards, DD, Crutch, Jordan, Crosby, simply do not respect the hands and quickness of the opposition. Even the lowest level opponents we play have quick hands these days.

Darrell is a sitting duck for a steal if he dribbles more than 4/5 times. Crutch has to learn at this level your odds of splitting two defenders off the dribble without a turnover are slim.

Our guard's collective dribbling approach has High School written all over it.

And you can throw in the lazy telegraphed passes in that scenario as well. But it's a bit like fumbling in football. Once you feel the pain and embarrassment of fumbling, it tends to correct itself.
It just gets down to being stronger with the ball in several ways.

One thing Archie always watched was number of times UD went to the foul line. That seemed to be the first stat he would look at after the game ends. I really liked that emphasis. That number seems way down this year.

I agree with Shocka and add. You get more fouls drawn down low than around the perimeter. When your offense goes in and out, you get more defensive fouls and open perimeter looks. You have to open up the inside and middle by good spacing and fast, fast ball movement. If you stand around, post players can defend easier and help players can sag easier.

We've seen a lot of late clock desperation 3s this year which has lowered the shooting percentage. Except for one stretch last night, there were few desperation 3s taken by UD.

Are you serious ? we beat TT, come talk to me when we get rolled by 15-20 at St Marys in 12 days, look me up then

Worried me a bit too but after a few possessions they figured it out.

Our problem was the the center fielder (post) in the middle never came to the ball. He sat back forcing a long pass from the guard to advance the ball. Once he came to the ball on the pass to beat the initial trap, we were in good shape.

I hear there is a team in Fariborn that is looking for fans. Pretty easy ticket to get too if you are interested.

He's got a point. Losing to Hofstra and ODU on neutral site, at home against Auburn and to Mississippi on the road, then looking good beating TT doesn't mean everything looks okay now. When you play inferior teams you're supposed to look good and when you play superior teams you're supposed to look bad. The concern is that we have way more superior teams and a lot less inferior ones this season.

Maybe more of your type of posters need to root for Wright State since their standards are lower and I'm sure their message boards are populated with more pollyannas which seems to be what the majority of posters here want.

You're advocating for more post feeds because of the number of TO's the team commits. :nuts: For those of you scoring at home, Cunningham is averaging 0.09 TO/minute, Landers is averaging is averaging 0.09 TO/minute, and Kostas is averaging 0.09 TO/minute. DD is averaging 0.08 TO/minute, Crutcher is averaging 0.07 TO/minute, and Davis is averaging 0.02 TO/minute. Crosby is effectively not playing anymore but his is terrible of course (0.12). I don't think more post feeds = less TO. "Oh but Gazoo those are all TO's on the perimeter." No, not buying it.

Then, you say we need to feed the post because other teams can just crowd the lane. Doesn't that make it harder to feed the post if that's where all the defenders are? Your logic says we can't get good shots unless Cunningham can score 1-on-5 a few times down the court, then we'll get the better setup for kick outs. Of course I know that's not what you're thinking, but you seem to be trying too hard to exaggerate the point.

I'm just saying our bigs today are black holes. AG might be calling for a reversal before it gets inside the "Cunningham event horizon." If we passed the ball into the post after the first entry pass every trip down the court, 4 defenders would basically get to take the possession off and rest. Reversals make everyone engage, THEN throw it into the post.

Also, if we threw it in the post every time down Cunningham would average 40 TO's per game and get blocked 15 times a game (and maybe foul out the other team's big; Cunningham would also foul out with 5 charges).

It's just possible that AG is trying to create a balance until Cunningham gets better at recognizing the shooters and the shooters get better at recognizing the angles for kickout passes.

I'm sure we're basically in agreement. I'm just offering an explanation that possible they're doing exactly what AG wants.

Who is "you are"? You quote my post and I mention nothing about turnovers.

Your second paragraph...you don't feed a crowded lane. You give the guy the ball when he is open...when it isn't crowded. They have open post looks all game long.

I am advocating for elementary basketball that 3rd graders are taught. Utilize the post. Not once, from grade school through college, did I ever have a coach that said "Guys..it's time to open up the post by firing up as many 3's as we can.".

You are correct...post feeds can be easier after a reversal...but you don't abandon the first post feed on a 1-1 in the paint with no backside help defender in place. Even with the backside defender...let the post read the double and hit the vacated offensive player from wherever the double comes from...the top or the backside on a quick in and out.

AG may be the one advocating for this, that is why I haven't singled out the players for not doing it as it may be part of the "system"...in that case I don't agree with said "system" that abandons the initial open post...when in fact...every time we start hitting the post we get positive possessions. That't the issue.

Disclaimer...not once did I say to get the ball in the paint every possession...that is stupid. But I surely don't feel like avoiding wide open post entries for the first 5 minutes of the game is the solution either...and based on the scoreboard...it wasn't working.

Look Cunnigham's turnovers closer. A number occurred when he tried to do something one on one vs being fed into the post. I remember 1-2 turnovers last night occurred when he started up high and tried to drive down low. Most of his turnovers occur when he puts the ball on the floor. Guards love it when big men do that.

Name me one poster that said everything is now okay.......Every legit. poster that knows even an ounce of ball is able to point out improvement that's made, being made, and what needs to continue.......Most of the clowns on this site that don't know jack s___t about ball come on here and talk about the lousy guard/PG play and expect this team that has 4 freshman on the floor at any one time, lost all 5 starters, a BIG who is back who played in just 8-10 games a year ago, has what is their leading scorer in DD who got squashed to death by plenty on this board the past two years to all of a sudden be **** near a top 25-30 team with ZERO growing pains.

I don't want to be a downer. Trey and Kostas and Jordan and our 2 leaders had good games.

I saw from start of second half. Went from like 8 point lead to 15 or 16 , then back to 8. This team we have can be extremely SLOPPY with the ball - as evidenced by our 17 turnovers.

More importantly, I wasn't impressed with T Tech at all. Not a good team, poor movement, many turnovers.

so while it was 13 point win I believe. AGainst a Good team this is a 3 to 5 point win. On the POSITIVE side....

1. Jordan took it to another level
2. Trey is finding his spots, inside work, and dishes
3. Kostas stayed out of foul trouble
4. Josh C did Josh C - 16 and 10
5. Darryl forcing a little bit less, unlike previous 2 games
6. Crosby played much better

Hey, we looked better against TT than we did our last 3 games of last season. This team must have grown up quickly to be better than last season's.

Glad i'm seeing a key word here - posted by Shocka. QUICK.
Decisions are slowly made, especially the first 8 minutes of our games.
Guys are tentative or a second or two slow. Those posts feeds are there , or they are not.

Gotta make the entry past within split second of guy being open.

Same goes for other indecisive decision making. I'm seeing it from Landers, Crutcher, Kostas, a few guys. What's positive is that things started flowing at certain points in the game.

Coach AG is still finding his combinations and rotations. I think we are closing on on more regular player patterns. Add X back in soon, and we are possibly in good shape to work towards 3rd to 6th in the A10. I"m excited Kostas had a solid game, especially passing and positioning and minutes played.

Svoboda really does need that breakout game. Perhaps Penn or another team, we can slow down and hit shots he can hit.

BUZZ! Wrong! :)

Charles Cooke 11pts/15 rebs and Steve McElvene 11pts/10rebs against Furman Dec 19, 2015. Oliver/Pierre twice in 13/14 season prior to that.

Since the 00-01 season, I show 22 instances of 2 players with double-doubles. 7 of the 22 include a player with pts/assists instead of pts/rebs.

Stats brought to you by Figstats

Figgie says NO!

Not complaining, was called out along with another poster for not being here after a win. I paid my compliments along with the fact I was unable to watch more than the first 13 minutes of the game. The other poster pointed out in a way that beating TT doesn't really prove a lot. He was then told to go root for Wright St.

Not complaining at all. Just not drinking the bubbly either.

SanDiegoFlyer: Excellent observation. I was thinking the same thing. This may be part of Crosby’s challenge in particular. He needs to unlearn what worked for him in high school.
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And it probably worked very well for all of them...in HS.